Digestive System Organs & Their Functions

Posted by Rajeev Sahadevan on March 30th, 2016

Digestion not only means the breakdown of the food particles but it also ensures that they are absorbed or reabsorbed well into the body. Each of the digestive system organs have their separate duty in the breaking down of the food particles by secreting the necessary digestive juice and enzymes and also have the nutrients and water absorbed and reabsorbed into the body. Abnormality in any of the digestive system organs can make the whole digestive system unhealthy that may lead to any kind of diseases and disorders.

Here is an account of the various digestive system organs, their respective digestive juices and which food particles they help digest. It is to be noted that the food is passed from one digestive system organ to another through muscle contractions. Many times, it is the muscle failure that causes indigestion and other digestive diseases and the organs are not the culprits.

• Mouth: The mouth is the beginning point of the digestive tract. The digestion starts right from the mouth with the help of the salivary glands that produce the saliva. Saliva contains enzymes that break down the starch molecules. Chewing helps to produce more saliva and a better start of digestion happens then and there. The food is passed to the throat or pharynx from where it is swallowed through the esophagus or food tube.
• Esophagus: Esophagus is the muscular tube from the throat to stomach. A series of muscle contractions bring the food down and the food is passed to the stomach though the opening sphincter. A faulty valve will not open or is always relaxed to make a reverse traveling of the food and other stomach contents causing acid reflux.
• Stomach: The stomach is the organ where there are muscles that relax and contract to keep the food moving inside and mix it with the stomach acid. It is this movement that helps digests the food. It almost acts like a mixer grinder and the enzymes in the stomach acid makes the initial breakdown of the complex molecules. This process takes place for a few hours until it reaches the consistency of a liquid mixture or watery paste. From there the half digested food is passed on to the small intestine where the actual digestion takes place.
• Small Intestine: Small intestine is a small tube that runs for 20 feet long and is coiled compactly to fit inside the human body. The real food digestion happens here with the help of bile and pancreatic juice from the liver and pancreas respectively. The bile and pancreatic juice contains the enzymes proteases, pepsin, lipases that digest the proteins, peptides, and fat molecules. These fluids enter the small intestine through ducts that open to the duodenum, the beginning portion of small intestine. The other two parts of small intestine, jejunum, and ileum, are responsible for absorption of nutrients from the food into the blood. Here the food is transported from each part to the next through synchronized muscle contractions. The next destination is the large intestine.
• Large Intestine is also called colon that has a length of 5-6 foot. The major duty here is water reabsorption and making stools. All the unwanted leftover after the digestion and nutrient absorption is expelled out through the large intestine and the opening anus. It takes about 36 hours for the food to pass through this part after initial consumption. There are many bacteria here and they ferment and process the digested food and also take part in vitamin B12 absorption.

Apart from these there are three more important organs that take part in digestion. They are not part of the actual digestive system tract but are secondary in position. Without these organs the digestion does not take place as it is these organs that are related to the digestive juice secretion. These organs are pancreas, liver, and gallbladder.

• Liver produces the bile that has the enzymes proteases for proteins, lipases for fats, and amylases for starch molecules. Bile is alkaline in nature and can neutralize the stomach acid.
• Gallbladder is the organ that stores the bile produced by the liver. Liver produce the bile all the time even when it is not the time for digestion. This extra is stored in gallbladder and it releases the bile when needed in smaller quantity or as required.
• Pancreas also produces the three main enzymes but has certain peptide breaking enzymes that are exclusively produced by this organ.

Together these digestive system organs make the digestion process easier. Any disease or disorder of any of these organs can affect the other organs as well. The various digestive supplements help correct the disorders and ensure that these digestive organs function normally and produce the necessary enzymes and fluids as needed.

The natural remedy for digestive diseases- Digestinol helps to maintain a balance between these organs and also protect the organ tissues against pathogens and damage. It is soothing and can neutralize the irritating stomach acid. The various medicinal properties of the ingredients of Digestinol makes the digestive system healthy.